The Greek Blues: Rebetiko

After the fall and destruction of Smyrna in 1922, 1.5 million Greek refugees from the coasts of Asia Minor and the Black Sea (Pontians), from Eastern Thrace and from other Turkish-occupied parts of Anatolia flocked into Greece. They brought almost nothing with them, and started their new lives in utter misery and having to face the hostility of their compatriots from mainland Greece, who felt frustrated by this unexpected surge. According to evidence, 20% of the refugees died during the first years of their relocation due to hardships.

One of the few things they brought with them was their musical culture, nurtured under the influence of the East. Their meeting with the underground culture of the poorer quarters of big cities brought forth this peculiar urban popular music. Rebetiko initially was viewed with great suspicion by the status quo, as it was the music of the 'outlanders', of poor people and of jailers, speaking of their defiance, of their difficult lives, of rows and of drugs, of illicit affairs, and so on.

After Greece's liberation from German Occupation (WWII), rebetiko musicians are massively accepted by recording companies, as rebetiko becomes the new trend. As it sometimes happens in such cases, the time of recognition coincides with the death of the original spirit of the music and the emergence of a derivative genre, more in line with elegant tastes of the era. Songs included here - original recordings, covers and versions - date mainly from the first period of rebetiko music.